Spaceflight Chronology
The Star Trek Spaceflight Chronology was published in 1980 by Stanley and Fred Goldstein, and illustrated by Rick Sternbach. At the time of its publication, "canon" consisted solely of the Original Series and Star Trek: The Motion Picture. The timeline described in Spaceflight Chronology and the events and ships therein were used by a number of other licensed works from the 1980s, such as the novels The Final Reflection, Strangers from the Sky, and Spock's World, reference book "Mr. Scott's Guide to the Enterprise", and FASA's Star Trek: The Role Playing Game. The SFC timeline was increasingly strained by the events of the TOS movies, and eventually invalidated by details that were revealed over the course of Star Trek: The Next Generation. Due to this, some details from the SFC timeline inevitably must be disregarded. However, other details can be adapted (albiet imprecisely) into the now-standard timeline. Timeline The timeline presented in the book was as follows: 20th Century 1950-1999 SFC 21st Century 2000-2049 SFC 2050-2099 SFC 22nd Century 2100-2149 SFC 2150-2199 SFC 23rd Century 2200-2249 SFC 2250-2299 SFC 24th Century 2300-2349 SFC FASA's reference stardate system was a modified version of the SFC timeline, and dates from novels, FASA products, and other items based on this timeline are incorporated (with source notes). Differences from the Standard Timeline World War III and the late 20th/early 21st centuries In the SFC timeline WW3 appears to be synonymous with the Eugenics Wars, is over by 1996, and has negligible effect on the expansion into space. The first decades of the 21st century are one long march of progress into the solar system, climaxing with manned sublight voyages to nearby star systems. *Events from 1957 to 1979 follow the historical record. *NASA's Space Shuttle was wildly successful, creating a permanent foothold in space (including solar power satellites, beaming power to Earth), and phased out in favor of more advanced craft by 1992. *Starting in 1995, the DY-100 is the first mass-produced spacecraft, making regular runs to Luna and adapted for the first manned mission to Mars. *A permanent moonbase is established in 1998. A second base on the farside began operations by 2004, which was the site of the first off-Earth human birth in 2005. *The first L-5 city is completed in 2007. By 2019 there will be seven. *2008 sees the development of a new Earth-Moon liner and the Aventeur-class, which will make manned voyages to the outer solar system over the following two decades. S.J. Christopher's ship visits Saturn in 2020. *The 2010s see several Marsbases built, and the first homesteading in the asteroid belt. *The 2020s bring further development of the Asteroid Belt supported by ships like the DY-500, and the first steps of terraforming Venus. *By 2042 there is a base on Pluto, and manned sublight missions en route to Barnard's Star and Alpha Centauri. *By 2044 the Interplanetary Communications Network guarantees reliable communications throughout the solar system. Summary The SFC envisions much more rapid development in this period than later canon, and the situation at the end is completely different. It is very problematic to adapt SFC events in this period to the standard timeline. They need to be determined on a case-by-case basis to see how they mesh with later canon. First Contact and Early Warp Following some 50 years of exploration, expansion, and development into the solar system, Earth was a stronger and more dynamic entity at mid-21st century in the SFC timeline than the war-ravaged place on the brink of complete collapse that emerged in TNG, First Contact, and ENT. The flow of events in its first contacts with its alien neighbors and interactions with them are equally different. *The sub-light [[UNSS Icarus|UNSS Icarus]] arrives in the Alpha Centauri system in 2048, and discovers native inhabitants so much like humans that speculation of a common ancestor is unavoidable. **''Icarus'' science officer Frank Jocasta helps break the communication barrier with Centauran physicist Zefram Cochrane, and is "electrified" by the warp principle Cochrane is developing. *Normal-space transmissions from UNSS Icarus about Centaurans and Cochrane's warp principle cause a sensation on Earth when received (in 2052). An intensive warp drive development program and diplomatic mission to AC are implemented as soon as possible. The first diplomatic mission arrives at AC in 2059 aboard a sub-light ship. *2055: The WD-1 test vehicle becomes the first vessel to exceed lightspeed. A chimpanzee passenger demonstrates that living beings can travel at warp with no ill effects. Earth's spaceship builders start designing the first generation of warp drive ships. *2059: The [[UNSS Bonaventure|UNSS Boneventure]], Earth's first fully-functioning warp ship, begins operation with a mission to the Tau Ceti system. Within the next few years warp-driven trade with the Centaurans begins in earnest. Zefrem Cochrane is brought to Earth in 2061 and receives a hero's welcome. *The Fundamental Declaration of the Martian Colonies established that every inhabited region of the solar system has local autonomy over their own affairs. Cultural exchange with the Centaurans stengthend bonds of cooperation and friendship. *2065: The [[UNSS Amity|UNSS Amity]] makes first contact with the Vulcans by assisting a malfunctioning Vulcan ship on the outskirts of the solar system. The Amity travels to Vulcan to return the crew home. Birth of the Federation and the Romulan War The Interim: Advances and Setbacks Maturing Technologies: The Constitution-Class Era References Starbases Starbase 20 • Starbase 25 Connections * Chronology